Treatment of infected wounds with methylene blue photodynamic therapy: An effective and safe treatment method.

Abstract Background Bacterial resistance is the main problem during the process of healing of infected wounds. As a new therapy, photodynamic therapy has broad-spectral antibacterial activity and non-selective action, which makes it possible to deal with antibiotic resistance. Compared with other treatments, it has advantages in wound healing such as less side effect, repeating treatment. Methylene blue is one of the commonly used medicine, but it is rarely used in clinical practice as a photosensitizer. The effect of methylene blue photodynamic therapy (MB-PDT) on infected wounds remains unclear. Our study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MB-PDT on infected wounds. Methods In this study, 4 patients with infected wounds were collected, all of them were treated with MB-PDT by using the red LED which irradiated the wounds directly(635 nm, 120 J/cm2, 100 mW/cm2). The frequency and course of treatment were determined by the severity of the wound. Results After 4 times of treatments on average, infected wounds of all the patients were healed, and the clinical feature was significantly improved compared to before. The treatment also showed an excellent cosmetic effect. According to the follow-up periods of patients ranged from 3 to 12 months, there were no recurrences and side effects. Conclusions MB-PDT has a great healing effect on infected wounds, and it is an effective, cheap and active clinical therapy.